National campaigns in Singapore take the limelight in Campaign City: Life in Posters through the interpretations and experiences of our local artists.

The exhibition presents reinterpreted campaign posters – over a wide variety from Singa the courtesy lion, to dental health, to the Stop at 2 family campaigns – from 10 local artists comprising an eclectic bunch of painters, illustrators, photographers and architects. They are ampulet, :phunk, Clare Ryan, Eeshaun, Ian Woo, Justin Lee, Michelle Fun, Messy Msxi, Randy Chan, and Zhao Renhui. Curator Alan Oei asked the artists to select posters that were personally meaningful and had made an impact on their lives.

Famously labelled “Disneyland with a death penalty,” Singapore has often been identified as an authoritarian regime, and our campaigns can be seen as a direct manifestation. However, Oei is less interested in such political, abstract statements, but more curious about our personal encounters with these campaigns.

Oei suggests that, “Singaporeans are so used to all these campaigns that we are generally apathetic. But they’ve all touched our lives in one way or another. And it’s time to revisit and share our memories, our growing-up years through these posters.”

The gallery has been transformed into an old books and souvenir shop, and there are photo-booths where visitors can re-enact and star in some of the posters.